MediaTek’s Sensio MT6381 Can Monitor Blood Pressure, Heart Rate…

Chipset maker MediaTek has had its ups and downs, but it’s is constantly looking to try new things. It recently announced, for example, that some of its system-on-chips would be optimized for Google’s new Android Oreo Go Edition platform, and recently partnered with Google to announce GMS Express. And on Thursday, MediaTek took the wraps off a new six-in-one biosensor, the Sensio MT6381.

The goal of the MediaTek Sensio MT6381 sensor, according to MediaTek, is to integrate six key measurements data points into a single package. It’s a supplementary chip for MediaTek’s SoC platform, and can monitor things such as the heart-rate, heart-rate variability, blood pressure trends, peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2), electrocardiography (ECG), of users, as well as blood volume changes via photoplethysmography (PPG). It’ll be made available to MediaTek partners in early 2018.

As Qualcomm continues to dominate the high-end smartphone chipset market, MediaTek’s made the decision to pivot away from processors. It’s not exiting the SoC market — it’ll continue to build chips for companies that want them — but it isn’t focusing on it as much as it used to.

As a result, MediaTek’s been able to regain market share in certain regions around the world. The mid-range Helio P23 and Helio P30 SoCs were huge hits for the company, thanks to their palatable price points and impressive performance. And MediaTek’s hoping that the Sensio MT6381 will be just as successful.